System Requirements

I have played the original Command and Conquer game and it\'s pretty safe to say that this is completely different. Revolutionary even! It\'s still a strategy war game but you can get right in the middle of it first hand. Not only can you ride numerous war vehicles, you can also switch characters, and call nuclear or ion attacks. You can\'t fly helicopters yet, but they are working on it! The MOD community sounds promising, and there are many MODS in progress. They have already developed co-op and death match modes.

Single Player

The single player mode contains twelve levels giving you roughly ten hours of game play. Single player mode is decent but the multiplayer is what makes this game a definite buy! Overall single player is pretty easy, I highly recommend playing on medium or hard difficulty. Easy mode was ridiculously simple. There are some bosses and the last couple levels were challenging, but overall the game play is a walk in the park. You are Havoc a GDI commando who only obeys rules when they work for him. You are given objectives to complete in every mission. (Primary, secondary, and tertiary) Many objectives are added as you complete others. There are usually secrets in the levels as well, so pay attention to all the details.
Renegade takes place during the first Tiberium war. The basic plot of the game revolves around the kidnapping of a GDI scientist named Dr. Ignatio Mobius, a world renowned expert on Tiberium and a specialist in the fields of physics, genetics, and chemistry. Mobius is believed to have been kidnapped by agents of the Black Hand, a group of highly trained assassins and commandos employed by the Nod to commit acts of worldwide terrorism. The Brotherhood felt they would be able to exploit Dr. Mobius, whose knowledge is essential in completing their aim of creating a new generation of soldiers mutated by Tiberium. To stop this from happening, GDI turns to an elite commando, Nick \'Havoc\' Parker, to find Mobius. With the entire Nod army between him and his objective, Havoc uncovers a web of deception insidious experiments, and the depths to which Kane will sink in his quest for global domination. *
Now that you know your goal, how can you accomplish it? Just like the original Command and Conquer series, you need resources to buy weapons and vehicles. So be sure to protect your harvesters. For weaponry you have your typical automatic machine guns, pistols, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, chain guns etc. There are a couple unique and powerful guns as well like chem sprayers and electric shock guns. Not to mention the typical explosives, grenades and launchers as well. The fun part is the vehicles you can use. You have heavy and light tanks, flame throwing tanks, stealth tanks, rocket launchers, hummers and armored cars.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is what truly makes this game fun! You can play over a LAN, internet, or practice mode. Yes you can play against bots, unlike other war FPS games out there. The internet game play was pretty decent on 56K I was impressed. Before you play multiplayer make sure you are all patched up, there are many lag issues that have been addressed.
The goal in the multiplayer is to destroy all your opponents buildings. Each building serves a special purpose where you can weaken them by eliminating their power source, refinery, or weapons base. To win the game you must either place your nuclear or ion beacon in their base, or destroy all their buildings. The beacon win can be disabled. Some maps have base defense systems, they are not easy to destroy and can be shut off by knocking out the power plant.

AI?

There\'s no way of putting this nicely but the AI stinks in this game. This effects both the single player and multiplayer practice game play. The enemies and bots are just plain dumb. They will usually run right up to the opponent and shoot. That\'s it. They don\'t dodge or run away from oncoming bullets or tanks. They usually line up for you in a single file line making it easier to pick them off one by one. Duh! In multiplayer practice, they are basically worthless. Also, they never seem to purchase vehicles for themselves. In the single player mode you have to escort Mobius (and later his daughter) to the surface. They both have a tendency to run ahead you and right into gunfire. This makes keeping them alive a little more challenging, and frustrating.

Bugs and Patches

There are some bugs in this game that are quite annoying. For example there\'s a ship level in the game and if you don\'t things in the proper sequence, you will not find the captain to complete the level. The only solution is to load a previous save or re-do the level. I was not too happy about that. So save early and often! Also, there are many patches available for this game. Most of them address networking issues.

Appropriate?

From a Christian Standpoint, this is a war game so there is violence. However there is no blood and gore, and when you die there\'s a funny boink sound (this can be disabled). It\'s all pretty light hearted. There is online multiplayer game play, so you\'ll be able to play against live people. You never know how rude or polite people will be, so I like how they implemented a swearing filter. If you don\'t like swearing you can turn it off. Most of the player skins are pretty clean. There was one rough looking female skin. Sakura, Havoc\'s former flame has tattoos and a flattering tube top. There is some rough language used , not to mention some sexist comments from Havok. On a side note there are obelisks in the game.

Final Impressions

The game is easy to install, it comes with Game Spy Arcade, which is good to have. The graphics are good, and the player and vehicle detail is great. I wasn\'t impressed with the scenery or environment detail. The sound effects were good. I love the boink sound when someone dies. The weapon and vehicle sound effects were great, the background music is techno like. The game ran well in Windows 2000 with no lockups. For controls, you use the standard WASD for movement, and E to use items. The game play is fun and unique. Get it for the multiplayer, which is a blast, as you may be disappointed with the single player game play.

Final Ratings

Appropriate C
Game Play A
Graphics B+
Interface A
Sound B+
Stability B-